Wednesday, January 14, 2015

No-Photo Chit-Chat Post

I spent much of yesterday working in the yard doing the kind of work that doesn't make a big visual impact. Pruning/shaping. Taking down a small (and leafless) tree or two. Weeding. Tidying. The kind of work that after hours of it, you can step back, take a look, and think, "Hm. I guess it looks ok. Pretty much like it looked before." If not for today's mild aches and a fresh pile of "garden debris" waiting to be burned, I might question whether or not I actually did yard work at all. Barely made a dent, in other words. Also, because I was working mainly in the front yard, where I don't tend to spend much time, I noticed several new tasks that have crept up and must now go on the To Do list. (Clean the front door stoop of old webs, dirt-dauber nests, etc. Repaint the front door. Re-caulk around the front windows. Re-fasten a couple of the shutters that are coming loose.) That's life, I guess!

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I've added several more hexagons to the Simply Soft afghan. I'm not sure why-- the uniformity? the lack of scope for color play?-- but it feels like really slow progress. On the upside, there won't be any joining or endless tail-weaving at the end of this project!

It's fine for crocheting while listening to the TV or similar, but I'm feeling my attention begin to wander... (Again.)

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Regarding the faux cathedral windows denim quilt, allow me to present you with the mental image of my eyes bugging out (comically). I may have spoken too soon about the Singer behaving itself. Since writing that, there have been Issues. Breaking thread... Jamming... More jamming... The occasional muttered curse and short shriek of pain. (The muttering and shrieking are coming from me, by the way-- not the machine. In case that wasn't clear. It's not a haunted/possessed sewing machine-- maybe just a somewhat temperamental one.)

I think the difference is that, last time, I was working on relatively small pieces of the quilt. They weren't that difficult to maneuver, compared to the longer strips that resulted from joining the small pieces. Now the quilt is just two big ol' pieces. There are a lot of pins to prick my poor, defenseless fingers. There's also a lot of weight and bulk to move and manage-- and this quilt (the way I'm sewing it, at least) requires a very great deal of moving and turning. It can be ever so slightly frustrating.

...But I feel like I "have" to keep with it until it's done, because if I set it aside now, I'm never going to want to finish the darn thing. It needs to be finished.

So I'm sticking with it, despite all impulses to the contrary.
Every stitch brings it closer to finished! ;o)

Welcome!

I'm Michael (frequently found online as "MossyOwls"), and this is where I keep track of my crafty interests. I love to crochet, enjoy the occasional small knitting project, and am beginning to play around with (simple) machine quilting and watercolor painting. (No telling what could come next!)

Before I became obsessed with crocheting, I used to blog about another crafting passion-- polymer clay. (Might pick it up again, one of these days...)